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Type: Correspondence
Published: 2020-12-18
Page range: 140–144
Abstract views: 127
PDF downloaded: 6

Redescription of the tadpole of rare Giant Torrent Frog Megaelosia boticariana Giaretta & Aguiar, 1998 (Anura, Hylodidae) with comments on natural history

Laboratório de Herpetologia (LHERP), Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente, São Paulo, Brazil
Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação. Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS). Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Projeto Dacnis. São Francisco Xavier and Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil
Laboratório de Paleontologia de Vertebrados e Comportamento Animal (LAPC), Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil
Projeto Dacnis. São Francisco Xavier and Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil
Laboratório de Herpetologia (LHERP), Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente, São Paulo, Brazil
Amphibia Anura Hylodidae

Abstract

The Hylodidae genus Megaelosia Miranda-Ribeiro comprises seven frog species that inhabit the Atlantic Rainforest in Southeastern Brazil (Da Silva et al. 2018). Larvae and adults of Hylodidae are commonly associated with lotic streams (Giaretta et al. 1993; Silva-Soares et al. 2015). Tadpoles of all Megaelosia species but Megaelosia bocainensis Giaretta, Bokemann & Haddad are formally described, even though many of these descriptions are restricted to few lines and several anatomical details were overlooked (e.g., Megaelosia lutzae; Izecksohn & Gouvêa 1985). The tadpole of M. boticariana was briefly described by Giaretta & Aguiar (1998) based on a single larva with no measurements or figures. Currently, M. boticariana is only known from its type locality and São Francisco Xavier, both in São Paulo state portion of the Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil (Muscat et al. 2020). The lack of information, coupled with the rarity of the species, reinforces the importance of taxonomic and natural history data to subside works on other fields. In this context, we present a complete redescription of the external anatomy of the tadpoles of M. boticariana and comment on their natural history.

 

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